Anees Bazmee’s much-awaited horror movie, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, hit theatres on November 1 and has been a box-office success, collecting around Rs 200 crore to date. In a recent interview, Anees shared some lesser-known facts about his 1994 film, ‘Laadla’. The film, directed by Raj Kanwar, featured a screenplay by Anees, and was initially shot largely with Divya Bharti before her tragic passing in 1993.
The sudden loss of the young star, who reportedly fell from her fifth-floor apartment, left her fans, friends, and colleagues deeply shocked. Her passing created significant challenges for the ‘Laadla’ team. Anees Bazmee revealed the difficulties they faced in reworking the film after her untimely death. The crew had to reshoot the entire movie, bringing Sridevi on board, although she had initially declined both the Tamil and Telugu versions.
When Sridevi expressed her desire to do an arranged marriage
In a recent interview with Galatta India, Anees shared, “We had already shot a major portion of the film with Divya Bharti. After her passing, we had to reshoot the entire film with Sridevi. Laadla was a remake of a South film, and Sridevi had turned down the project in both Tamil and Telugu. Boney Kapoor warned me that she might refuse the film in Hindi too, but I insisted he arrange a meeting. Before meeting her, I reflected on the reasons behind her rejection of the first two versions and made some adjustments accordingly. When I narrated my revised version of the story to her, she got excited.”
The reshoot of ‘Laadla’ was not only an artistic challenge but also an emotional ordeal for the entire team, especially for producer Nitin Manmohan. Divya Bharti had nearly completed the entire film, save for the climax, and her sudden passing left Nitin deeply affected. Anees Bazmee recalled the difficult balance of managing both the grief of losing a close colleague and the practical concerns about the film’s future and potential financial losses. Despite his sorrow, Nitin showed remarkable resilience, regaining his composure and resuming the project with renewed focus. With much of the film already completed, the reshoot proceeded swiftly, and ‘Laadla’ eventually became a box-office success.
